A Dream of Wisdom
by justawritingmind
Summary: Before Yasuo was fighting in the League, he was a rather arrogant child whose life was impacted heavily by that of his older brother Yone. This flashback delves into their history together and explains why Yasuo is the type of person we know today.


"Hubris my brother - that will be your down fall."

Yasuo looked up at his older brother – sitting atop one of the branches of the great oak tree that lay in the centre of the temple's garden; puzzled as to what the word meant.

"Hubris?" he asked, "as in a disease?"

He saw his brother exhale slowly and shake his head, "fool, you should read the scriptures father left to us more often rather than sneaking off and indulging in sake with those village boys."

Yasuo froze. "I have no idea what you're-"

"Silence," the older sibling bellowed, "what you think I know and what I know in reality is a conversation for another time. Now, to answer your question in terms you can understand – hubris is essentially arrogance."

Yasuo raised the hilt of his katana in protest. "You think I'm arrogant? What a joke, you're just angry because the elders believe I have the potential to be a great sword master! Yasuo the great! Yone the jealous!"

"Perhaps," Yone replied, "nevertheless the fact that you are arrogant still remains. If such a personality trait is not discarded in the near future you'll find yourself not being able to progress any further in your swordsmanship."

Yasuo lowered his sword. "How so?" he asked, his interest piqued.

Yone tapped the surface of the tree branch, producing a dull, hollow noise. "Let us say, that this great tree represents your hubris, and this," he pointed to a small flower at the base of the tree, "is your skill as a swordsman currently."

"Personally I think it should be the other way ar-" Yasuo was interrupted mid-sentence by a flying pebble to the cheek.

"As I was saying," Yone continued, "this flower has been able to grow due to the correct nutrition it receives from the ground and more specifically the rays from the sun."

Yone jumped down from the branch and knelt down, placing an open palm over the flower. "However, imagine how dramatically the rate of growth would increase without the shade of the oak tree hindering its ability to develop into a larger, even more beautiful flower."

Yasuo tapped his foot in annoyance. "Are you a gardener or a swordsman? Get to the point."

Yone smiled at his younger brother. "My point Yasuo, if you've failed to notice it, is that if you simply reduced the amount of arrogance you possessed and concentrated on being a modest, patient individual, you would have everything at your disposal to become a master swordsman."

No matter how much he tried to hide it, Yasuo was in awe of his older brother's wisdom, and it showed through his eyes.

Yone laughed the way he always did when Yasuo revealed himself in such a way, to which the young swordsman quickly changed expression and pretended to be unimpressed.

"Sword training and philosophy on the same day and you managed to pay attention for the majority of it all, well done." Yone leaned down and rustled Yasuo's top knot. "Come, let's head back to the main house and eat. How do you expect to surpass me if you don't feed your body?"

Yasuo grinned and quickly hopped to walk alongside his older brother, the spring of the wind underneath his shoes. "I already have surpassed you Yone!" he shouted as he jumped on his back.

The two walked to the main house steps through the garden path laughing.

Yasuo was awoken by the sound of the wind whistling through a small hole in the wall of the hut he had holed up in for the previous night.

A heavy feeling weighed down on his chest – he never had dreams like that, or dreams in general any more. Why was this happening now?

He slipped on his sandals and reached for his katana – the sheath tattered and scathed from his escape from the temple.

Sliding the door of the hut to an open position, Yasuo yawned as he stepped out into the hilly landscape that was the Ionian mountains. How long had it been since he had been away from the temple? Five days? A week? A month even? He was unsure.

Yesterday, the familiar, burly man that always used to chop down trees with a single swing of his cleaver had found him near a creak closer to ground level. It was no use trying to explain the situation to him - to any of them anymore, he had done what needed to be done.

Yasuo sighed a breath of regret, the wind pushing at his back, eager for both of them to set off again on their journey of redemption.

_Wait for me Yone, I promise I'll clear my name and make everything right again. I have not forgotten your teachings._

With that, Yasuo ran off in pursuit of redemption,

**oblivious to the sorrow that was to come.**


End file.
